Two Sentenced for Reselling Amphetamine from the Darkweb

Two Austrian men were sentenced to prison for their roles in the importation and resale of large quantities of drugs purchased through the darkweb.

The two defendants–a 27-year-old and a 28-year-old from Tyrol–were sentenced to prison after admitting they had participated in the importation and distribution of kilograms of amphetamine purchased on the darkweb.

During their sentencing hearings at the regional court on June 16, 2021, the 27-year-old told the court that he had decided to start the drug trafficking operation after a drug dealer told him that the COVID-19 lockdown had made it impossible for him to acquire drugs to sell. The 27-year-old saw an opportunity and decided to purchase drugs from the darkweb and resell them.

The 27-year-old told the court that he placed orders of one kilogram of amphetamine on the darkweb and had the drug packages shipped to the 28-year-old’s residence under fake names.

The operation went well for a short while. It fell apart when the 28-year-old was “too busy” to receive a package of amphetamine. The mail courier brought the package back to the mail distribution center. By the time the defendants showed up at the distribution center to retrieve the package, it had already been mailed to the return address on the package. Customs officers in Germany intercepted the package and found a kilogram of amphetamine inside it. German authorities informed the Tyrolean police of the drug package and gave them the 28-year-old’s address. This resulted in the arrest of both suspects.

The 27-year-old also told the court that he had sold 2.5 kilograms of the 4.2 kilograms of amphetamine he had purchased.

The 28-year-old told the court that he did not know that the packages he received on his friend’s behalf carried drugs. He also disclosed that the 27-year-old paid him 4,000 euros to receive the drug packages and hand them over to him.

After hearing the defendants’ confessions, the judge sentenced the 28-year-old to four years in prison. He then sentenced the 27-year-old to four years and six months in prison.